Wells Fargo & Company Cuts General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $244.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $276.00 to $244.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on GD. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $252.87 on Wednesday. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $258.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.17. The firm has a market cap of $68.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.